This year marks the beginning of St. Clair Hospital’s seventh decade of service. Over the years, the hospital has grown exponentially, from a small-town center that began with the fundraising proceeds from bake sales, raffles and flower sales to a high-tech, multi-campus health facility that can do everything from deliver babies to treat cancer to perform surgery with the latest robotics. Over the decades, three leaders: Courtland E. Chandlee, Benjamin E. Snead and James M. Collins have created a vision for the hospital that has gone far beyond stitches and X-rays, allowing the hospital to remain independent, as other centers have been swallowed by insurance companies and embroiled themselves in marketing wars.

St. Clair’s repeated national rankings speak to the cutting edge services patients receive, complemented by warm care. The hospital’s goal is to remain on the forefront of patient safety and emergency care, while continuing to attract physicians with excellent reputations and stellar credentials. To find a doctor, schedule an appointment or get more information on the services available at St. Clair, go to www.stclair.org or call 412-942-4000.

1941

Arthur S. Haines, M.D., a Mt. Lebanon physician, decides the residents of the South Hills need a hospital of their own.

1945

Community-based auxiliary forms to raise money to construct a hospital and Bower Hill Road location is secured; they set up shop in the Washington school in Mt. Lebanon.

1951

Construction begins.

1954

St. Clair Hospital opens February 22 with 104 beds and 35 bassinets.

1955

First year: 4,500 patients admitted, 1,200 babies born, 8,500 treated in ER

1962

A major expansion begins.

1967

St. Clair adds a new Intensive Care Unit

1974

An emergency transport network initiated in the South Hills, spearheaded in part by Dr. Clara Jean Ersoz, Director of the Critical Care program at St. Clair.

1978-79

A major expansion doubles the size of the Hospital and St. Clair enhances services in outpatient surgery, cardiac care, maternity care and advanced diagnostic technology.

1983-84

• CT scanner installed; 12-room outpatient surgery center opens
• A new GI Lab offers fiberoptic endoscopic diagnostic procedures.

1986-89

• The Greater Pittsburgh Cancer Treatment Center opens at the Hospital
• A three-story Professional Office Building opens adjacent to the hospital.
• St. Clair opens a new Mammography Center

 1991-92

State-of-the-art cardiac cath lab opens; St. Clair launches the first robotic drug distribution system.

 1993

Helipad opens

1996-98

• Extraordinary expansion: an addition that houses nuclear medicine, ultrasound, and MRI
• Heart Center opens, offering advanced, comprehensive coronary services in in response to the high incidence of heart disease

 2001-05

• The Cancer Center, a partnership with UPMC opens
• St. Clair invents the first dual scan hand-held device to reduce medication errors and improve patient safety.
• The Hospital begins using dedicated, ‘round-the-clock’ physician intensivists in critical care units.

 2006

James M. Collins becomes CEO

2006-09

• New ER becomes the region’s busiest, with shortest wait times
• St. Clair recognized for having the fastest ‘door-to-balloon’ rates among all southwestern Pennsylvania hospitals  and achieves the highest ranking for patient satisfaction of hospitals nationwide.

2010-11

St. Clair continues attracting the area’s leading physicians; its surgeons begin using the world’s most advanced robotic surgery system, the da Vinci Si.

2012-14

• New Breast Care Center opens in Outpatient Center in Bethel Park
• The Hospital’s Outpatient Center at Village Square triples in size
• New two-story Outpatient Center opens in Peters Township
• First 365-day-year Urgent Care opens, offering non-emergency medical services
• St. Clair again is named a 100 Top Hospital in the U.S